LEAD STORY
Netflix Is Starting To Make Some Positive Moves
Ever since Netflix’s disastrous first quarter results, the streaming giant has been in reaction mode as it tries to stem additional subscriber loss while facing increased competition.
The company has let some of its staff go, reigned in on how much and where it spends on content, and is now embracing the prospect of a cheaper ad-supported tier, something it had vowed never to do.
With the implementation of an ad-supported tier, there’s some positive news coming out of Netflix ahead of its highly anticipated second-quarter earnings expected this coming week. For one, the company has been on a serious hunt for an executive to lead this new division. One person it interviewed is Pooja Midha from Comcast’s advertising unit, who reportedly has already had multiple interviews. Also being considered for the position is Peter Naylor, the vice president of sales for the Americas for Snap Inc.
Whoever leads the ad-supported unit will be going into it with some heavy reinforcements as Netflix tapped Microsoft to be its global advertising technology and sales partner. This was a big win for Microsoft as the tech giant has not been known to be a big player in the ad tech space.
Microsoft’s $1 billion purchase of Xandr from the formerly known WarnerMedia, now Warner Bros. Discovery, gives it the necessary expertise to compete amongst the other ad tech giants.
For Netflix working with Microsoft is a win-win situation as it now partners with a tech company that does not have a streaming service directly competing with it. Google, Comcast, and Amazon had also put in bids to partner with Netflix, but they each have a streaming service, and Netflix didn’t want to be working with the enemy.
The Netflix/Microsoft partnership garnered plenty of positive reactions from those within the business and Wall Street analysts. The collabo could unleash untapped potential between the two companies as each offers the other a blank canvas to work with.
As it shores ups the technological component of its ad-tiered service, Netflix is also working hard to make sure that its content licenses are also compatible with the new ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) tier. The streaming service has reached out to content partners like Sony, Warner Bros., and Universal to renegotiate terms so that ad breaks can be inserted before, during, and possibly after their programming.
Netflix could potentially make as much as $1.2 billion by 2025 as a result of also having an AVOD tier, and these content distributors would want a piece of that pie too.
Netflix is also starting to flex its muscles in the marketing and promotion space. One of the significant strikes against the streamer is that it has so much content that the high-profile ones have difficulty getting noticed by viewers.
Now the streamer is putting some effort into marketing The Gray Man, a movie that cost $200 million to produce and stars Ryan Gosling. It’s a new strategy for Netflix as it typically doesn’t put much promotional effort before the release of a movie. Now it’s putting up billboards in several cities and placing TV ads in high viewership programming, and it recently held a huge movie premiere outing in Hollywood.
Content producers, for some time, have been urging Netflix to do more with its marketing and promotional efforts, so it will be interesting to see how well The Gray Man does.
Its success or failure will be the barometer used to determine whether Netflix embraces large-scale marketing and promotion or not.
(Wall Street Journal, AdWeek, Broadcasting+Cable, The Streamable, Bloomberg)
RECAP
BBC To Move From Two News Networks To One
The BBC is looking to do TV news differently next year. Starting in April 2023, the news service will only have one news network, which will be known as BBC News. Currently, the BBC has BBC News focused on its UK audience, and BBC World News focused on its international audience. The move results from the BBC looking to streamline and modernize its operations as issues with the TV license fee have forced the organization to rethink its news operations. The new BBC News will broadcast from London, during UK daytime hours, Singapore, and Washington, DC. Nineteen news anchors will likely lose their jobs in the UK, while the network will ramp up staffing in Washington, DC, on-air and off-air. (BBC, Jake Kanter/Twitter)
Disney Raises The Price Of ESPN Plus
As it adds more content to its sports streaming network, Disney has made the drastic decision to increase the monthly subscription price of ESPN Plus by 43%, from $6.99 to $9.99. The move, which takes place on August 23, is a bet by the house of Mickey that ESPN Plus subscribers will still stick around even after the price increase because the sports content it offers is invaluable. Disney is also looking to boost revenues from its streaming operations, which are still money-losing ventures. ESPN Plus currently has 22.3 million subscribers that can watch NFL and NHL games, PGA Tour events, Wimbledon and US Open tennis matches, La Liga soccer matches, and UFC fights. If the price of ESPN Plus as a stand-alone product is too unappealing for some, then Disney is hoping to push potential subscribers to the Disney Bundle, which is a better deal as it consists of Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus at the cost of $13.99. (CNBC)
Changes Are Coming To Good Morning Football
One of the more popular morning sports shows is set to receive an infusion of fresh blood just in time for the start of the new NFL season. The NFL Network’s Good Morning Football has been must-watch TV for NFL fans and lost two key members between last year and this year. First to go was Nate Burleson, who moved to CBS Mornings, and then Kay Adams left for Thursday Night Football on Amazon’s Prime Video. Replacing Adams will be Jamie Erdahl, who will be the new host. She’s moving from CBS Sports, where she was a sideline reporter for the NFL on CBS, and it’s been reported that newly retired NFL player, Jason McCourty, is the top candidate to fill the spot vacated by Burleson. McCourty, a Super Bowl winner with the 2018-19 New England Patriots, has already made appearances on the show and has been impressive at the NFL’s broadcasting boot camp. Should he be named to the show, he will join an ensemble that already includes Peter Schrager and Kyle Brandt. (NFL Communications, New York Post)
QUICK RECAP
Emmy Recap: HBO/HBO Max top all others in Emmy nominations. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Emmy Recap: Hulu earns record 58 nominations. (Deadline)
Emmy Recap: CNN’s Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy earns five nominations. (CNN Press Room)
John Della Volpe joins MSNBC as a political contributor. (MSNBC PR/Twitter)
Ivan Rodrigues joins CNN as a CNN Newsource correspondent. (CNN PR/Twitter)
Lindsay Salt leaves Netflix for the BBC as their new director of drama. (Variety)
Fox News’ Janice Dean starts a podcast on Fox News Audio. (Broadcasting + Cable)
Jay Caruso is hired as a senior editor at Fox Business. (Talking Biz News)
Richard Haddock was named VP of communication at NBC News and MSNBC. (TVNewser/Twitter)
DJ Bien-Aime and Stephen Holder join ESPN’s NFL Nation. (ESPN Press Room)
Jenny Dell was named lead CBS Sports college football reporter, and Sherree Burrus was named lead college football reporter for CBS Sports Network. (Paramount Press Express)
Former Turner Sports exec Will Funk to lead Range Media Partners. (Variety)
Bomani Jones might have left ESPN for good. (Awful Announcing)
ESPN is investing heavily in lacrosse. (Front Office Sports)
Americans are tired of the negative news and have disengaged. (TVNewser)
Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks buys the Black News Channel. (Cablefax)
Women’s media sports rights may surge towards the $1b value. (Front Office Sports)
Stephen A. Smith explains his ESPN absence is due to recovering from shoulder surgery. (Awful Announcing)
Fox Sports Doug Gottlieb is being sued by sports agent Casey Close. (ESPN)
UEFA is looking to make some serious money from its Champions League rights in the US. (Axios)
Paramount Plus to exclusively stream The Women’s Cup in August. (Paramount Press Express)
DAZN is looking to acquire Eleven Sports in Europe. (The Streamable)
CBS Television Stations is launching Now branded newscasts for non-CBS affiliated stations. (NewscastStudios)
Apple is looking like the winner of the NFL’s Sunday Ticket package. (ProFootballTalk)
Fox Sports placed Baseball Night In America graphics over the 9/11 memorial during the Yankees vs. Red Sox game. (Awful Announcing)
The just concluded Wimbledon tournament’s ratings were up from last year. (Sports Media Watch)
Amazon’s Prime Video is looking to get former NFL player Drew Brees for a “Quarterbacks-Only” megacast. (Front Office Sports)
Americans over 50 years are watching a lot of streaming content. (The Wall Street Journal)
New episodes of Forensic Files II are coming to HLN. (TVNewser)
Netflix is losing more licensed content. (The Streamable)
Happy 2nd birthday, Peacock; what can you show for it? (AdWeek)
MSNBC’s Kat Tur is worried about a potential Trump candidacy. (The Hill)
ESPN’s Adam Schefter gets ripped by his colleagues over his domestic violence reporting. (Awful Announcing)
CBS Mornings is to be shown live in the Los Angeles TV market. (TVNewser)
YouTube TV has become the largest live streaming service with five million subscribers. (The Streamable)
Is HBO Max doing the right thing by shifting away from European originals? (Variety)
60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl is to be honored with the Variety and Rolling Stone Truth Seekers Award. (Variety)
Matthew Berry leaves ESPN and might be heading to NBC Sports. (CNN Business & New York Post)
ESPN gets duped again by Ballsack Sports. (Awful Announcing)
Season two of Money Court gets greenlit by CNBC. (TVNewser)
HBO Max might return to Amazon Prime Video Channels. (The Streamable)
New bids for the Big Ten’s media rights are to be submitted. (Sports Business Journal)
Joe Buck could have been paired with Tom Brady at Fox Sports. (New York Post)
Former NFL player Robert Griffin III to replace Randy Moss on ESPN’s Monday Night Countdown. (New York Post $$$)
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A MarkHenry Media LLC publication - Issue #94 - 2022